Guns N' Roses

GUNS N'ROSES
Formed 1985, U.S.A.

Albums:
1986 Live?!*@ Like A Suicide
1987 Appetite For Destruction
1988 GN'R Lies
1991 Use Your Illusion I
1991 Use Your Illusion II
1993 The Spaghetti Incident?
1999 Live Era '87-'93
2004 Greatest Hits

History:
Guns N'Roses were he most notorious band of the late 80's hard rock era. Sex, drugs, riots, racism, fights...the band has been involved in anything you can think of. They gave heavy metal a much needed kick in the ass when they burst upon the scene.
Formed in Los Angeles, California by W. Axl Rose (vocals), Izzy Stradlin' (guitar), Tracii Guns (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Steven Adler (drums). Guns would leave to form L.A. Guns and Slash would take his spot in the band. Their 1986 EP was released on the bands own independent album, but it wouldn't be long until a major label would pick these bad boys up. The first full-length album would become the best selling debut in music history, due in part to the massive publicity their antics received in the press. The original cover for Appetite For Destruction depicted a woman being raped by an alien and was promptly banned. During the tour for the G N'R Lies EP, Rose threatened to leave if some of the members couldn't control their drug use. Slash would stop his heroin habit within a year, but Alder was unable to kick his habit and was replaced by ex-Cult drummer Matt Sorum.





Sorum and keyboardist Dizzy Reed would debut in early 1991 and the band began work on the huge Use Your Illusion project. The two albums would be released on the exact same day, and both shipped platinum as they occupied the top two spots on Billboard's Top 200 charts. The accompanying tour would see Rose delaying shows up to three hours, and the stress finally forced Stradlin' to walk away and pursue a solo career. The group went on with Gilby Clarke on guitar, but the group was close to the breaking point.
The group would be in the news again with the release of The Spaghetti Incident? in which they did a cover of a song written by mass murderer Charlie Manson. In the mid 90's, Slash, McKagan and Clark would all release solo albums while the future of the band was up in the air. By the time "My God" was released on a movie soundtrack in 1999, Rose was the only original member left, as he had either fired or pushed everyone else out of the band. In 2002 Rose unleashed another version of Guns N'Roses with Reed, Buckethead (guitar), Paul Tobias (guitar), Robin Finck (guitar), Tommy Stinson (bass), Brain Mantia (drums) and Chris Pitman (keyboards). However, just like old days, the comeback tour proved to be a disaster with riots and late arrivals, before being cancelled midway through.

Links:
The Official Guns N'Roses Page